The following post is based on recent lectures I attended at the Kundawell Institue by Professor Xu MingTang, an internationally recognized master of Qigong and energetic healing. Many thanks.
The literature of Ancient China is full of stories where as modern readers, it is difficult to know where to draw the line between historic fact and creative embellishment. Legend surrounding the Warring States Period physician, BianQue (扁鹊）, is one such example. From the Han Dynasty historian SiMaQian (司马迁）, we have The Chronicle of BianQue (扁鹊传） that survives in its original form to this day, some 2,000 years later, where portions of it have become required reading in high school currciulums throughout the country. His name is so inextricably linked to the practice of traditional Chinese medicine in the minds of the Han people that when I mention my interest in the topic, more often than not, "Ah, you mean like BianQue!" is the response I get with raised eyebrows, and a little chuckle.
ZhangZhongJing (张仲景）, author of the ShangHanLun and original old-skool guru of Chinese medicine, placed BianQue sqaurely in the opening lines of his introduction contrasting BianQue's style with that of his Han Dynasty contemporaries, saying: Each time I read over the story of BianQue and the Duke of Qi, I can't help but be overcome by his remarkable diagnostic abilities. At the same time, I find it strange that contemporary scholars of the world today don't apply themselves with all their heart to the study of medicine in order to treat the maladies of lords and princes, not to mention their own families.
The story ZhangJongJing refers to is one that has come down through the ages in SiMaQian's Chronicle that begins with the Duke of the Kingdom of Qi inviting BianQue to be his guest at court. Upon his arrival, BianQue informed the Duke that he has an illness taking hold within the surface level of his body, but the Duke replied simply that he is in perfect health. Five days later, BianQue returned for an audience and told the Lord that the illness has now moved deeper into the blood, but still the Lord did not listen. Upon their third meeting，BianQue stated that the illness has now taken hold in the stomach and colon, still to no avail. Five days later, BianQue returned once again and after taking one look at the Duke, turned heels and ran without a word. When the Duke's messenger came after him he said: At first, the Duke's illness was within the interstitial spaces where herbal reduction and acupressure with warm stones could reach; next, it was in the blood and treatable with acupuncture; at the time of my last visit, his illness was in the stomach and colon where alcohol decoctions can be effective; now, the illness has reached the marrow where not even the power of the Supernatural can reach. There was no point in imploring him to allow me to treat him. Sure enough, five days later, the Duke fell ill and sent for BianQue, who was nowhere to be found. Soon after, the Duke died.
In other pieces of the text, we see BianQue bringing the Prince of Guo back from a deep coma when even the King's own doctors had abandoned hope and left him for dead. In this episode, much to the bewilderment of the palace guards, he insisted the Prince was still alive before even laying eyes on him! We are told that at a young age BianQue was given a special formula and instructions from an old Master before his death that gave him the ability to perceive people's internal organ function, making his diagnostic skills all but infallable.
The overall picture we get of BianQue from his biography is that he was a man of unusual talent, able to directly perceive the pathological disorders of his patients, often in cases where he did not have the opportunity to complete even the most cursory diagnosis! Modern readers of these feats, while holding BianQue in high esteem, consider them no more than tall tales exagerrated through hundreds of years of retelling. But are they？ Often, stories of high antiquity speak through allegory, that while not 100% historically accurate, hide a deep and powerful message beneath the veil of images so extraordinary as to be inconceivable to the rational mind.
Certainly, if there is one thing that these past years spent studying ancient medicine have shown me, it is that not all facets of reality adhere to the principles of the rational mind alone. BianQue, and his order of practitioners, are often referred to as caoyi (草医）, or grassroots doctors. This is in opposition to the yuyi (御医) or imperial physicians of the various courts and schools of the many competing nation states. While the caoyi spent their time learning through practice, often under very harsh conditions among the people and their natural environment, the yuyi lived sequestered at court, attempting to systematize knowledge that had come down to them through books alone. While originally springing from the same source, over time, we see the development of a division in the ranks of medical practitioners - the more experiential and insightful practice of the caoyi, rooted in folk practices and observance of nature, and the rational, more intellectual practice of the yuyi who lived in close contact with the intelligencia and heart of the political power structure.
To be continued...
About Me
- Bryan McMahon 马凯翰
- Born and raised in Connecticut, I graduated from Middlebury College in 2001 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Japanese Studies and English Literature. I continued down this road as a Japanese Ministry of Education Research Scholar at the Center for Classical Asian Studies of Kyoto University. Next, it was on to the new frontier of China and Beijing in pursuit of the wisdom of the Ancients. In the Fall of 2005, I began a 5 year degree program in the Acupuncture/Tuina department of the Beijing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. I have recently graduated and will move on to private practice in Shanghai deeply devoted to a lifestyle of self-discovery and understanding.